Guided Imagery and Insomnia

Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford's Warneford Hospital in the UK, studied people with insomnia and "good sleepers", to see if various ways of managing unwanted thoughts affected sleep quality, anxiety and depression.

Analysis of the data revealed that with the exception of cognitive distraction, the people suffering from insomnia, relative to good sleepers, more frequently used thought control strategies. More specifically, strategies of aggressive suppression and worry appeared to be entirely unhelpful, and in fact, the use of these strategies were predictors of sleep impairment, anxiety and depression.

On the other hand, the strategy of cognitive distraction appeared to be helpful, with the use of this strategy predicting better sleep quality. (Once again research validates common sense. We are pleased to note that guided imagery is a strategy of cognitive distraction.)

These findings confirm results from earlier sleep studies.

Citation: Ree MJ, Harvey AG, Blake R, Tang NK, Shawe-Taylor M.Attempts to control unwanted thoughts in the night: development of the thought control questionnaire-insomnia revised (TCQI-R). Behavioral Research and Therapy. 2005 Aug; 43 (8): pages 985-98.